The Levels Are Core Product Benefits Marketing Essay

The Levels Are Core Product Benefits Marketing Essay BMW has the image of a premium car manufacturer who is know for its well driving cars with a sportier performance than their competition, prime example of this is the fact that BMW only produces rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive cars. Their premium image comes from the fact that they produce high-quality and relatively high prices automobiles. Even though their prices are relatively high the perceived value level is still at a sufficient level because of the balance with high quality. One of the core product benefits would be technology. For example EfficientDynamics which manages to lower fuel consumption without really compromising the performance BMW is known for, through means such as lightweight construction, a start-stop function, brake energy regeneration and tires with less roll resistance just to name a few. BMW has won many awards for innovation for measures such as these so their technology is at a high and innovative level. Product Attributes BMW was founded in 1916 and its first car went on sale in 1929, a well known and old brand known for its innovation is one of the strengths BMW can build on. Not only in the automobile branch but also known for its aircraft engines and motorcycles. Design, especially under Christopher Bangle recent design has been an important factor, loved by some hated by others the new design direction Bangle took was a hot topic in automobile discussions. What cannot be denied is that BMWs have a distinctive design with some elements that have been in its cars for decades. For example the characteristic grille, first introduced in 1933 and still in use on every car model BMW manufactures. Another part of design is that BMW designs all its products with recycling in mind, Design for Recycling makes sure that the right materials are used and recycling is easier because it is being accounted for at a design stage. BMW has a programme called BMW Individual in which such as the name states a customer can customise its car to great extent. Options such as exclusive paint, leather colours and types and more extensive audio/video possibilities are all part of this programme, all to satisfy the customer to the greatest extent. Support Services The normal delivery of an automobile consists of having it made ready by your dealer and having it delivered to your home. With BMW it is possible to pick it up at the factory it was produced at and have a tour there for example and visit the BMW museum, it is even possible for American customers to make use of this programme and BMW will even take care of the shipping afterwards. An exclusive offering which turns a simple delivery into a whole experience. BMW offers a long 12 year warranty on the body of the car, 3 years on the paintwork and 2 years on the rest with no maximum amount of kilometres used. Furthermore there are programmes that allow you to extend the warranty beyond this time for a premium. Every consumer has access to the BMW group Service Center which can be phoned 24/7 and is free of charge. BMW also offers BMW Financial Services, which is a lease and financing company. They offer lease agreements but also insurance, not only on cars but they even offer home or travel insurance. To summarize BMW produces high quality products which have a few characteristics they are well known for. There are many factors in which BMW has a great product strategy but the most notable factors would be driving quality, BMWs offer a high degree of performance in its cars. Also one very important factor is its technology, most notably EfficientDynamics through which BMW manages to lower fuel consumption and emissions without compromising the quality driving it is known for. There is also the design which characterises its cars as typical BMW and last but not least the high level of support services. Miscellaneous One of the biggest issues global society is facing is global warming, this is especially important in the automotive industry as their products play a (large) part in this issue. Car manufacturers face a bit of a paradox, their product is inherently harmful to the environment yet at the same time they try to be as environmentally conscious as possible. BMW not only tries to be environmentally conscious in their products they also strive to be this in their organisation. As stated on their website all BMW Group employees are guided by the ICCs Business Charter for Sustainable Development. Managers are stimulated to implement environmental guidelines and convey this message onto their employees. Just some examples are reducing the amount of paperwork that goes with every car as it goes down the production-line in the factory to reduce the amount of paper used. Turning off unused factory equipment in the weekends. Grouping the production of same coloured cars together so that the painting equipment has to be cleaned and sterilized less often. BMW Group acknowledges its responsibilities and commits to apply latest the technologies in order to enhance safety and lower fuel consumption and noise and exhaust emissions. As stated previously BMW applies Design for Recycling in which at the design stage there is already being accounted for optimizing the recycling process. BMW also is developing alternative fuel technologies such as BMW CleanEnergy which allows for the use of liquid hydrogen as a fuel. Furthermore BMW Group suppliers are required to adhere to the standards which BMW applies to its organisation and products. It is through technologies such as BMW Efficient Dynamics that the consumer is actually experiencing a lower fuel consumption and lower emissions. All of this achieved through lightweight construction, energy management and modern technology. For example in the Netherlands BMW has 129 models which have a green label, greener labels in turn allow for lower costs for the car. To summarize, although BMWs product is harmful to the environment they try to minimize this through the use of company-wide policies and design philosophy to ensure environmentally conscious production and technology to minimize fuel consumption and emissions. Sources Essentials of Global Marketing Svend Hollensen http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/overview.html http://www.bmw-warranty.co.uk/Pages/Information.aspx?page=Products/Comparison.htm http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/Owner/BMWUltimateService/Warranty.aspx http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/about/corp/environment http://www.bmwusfactory.com/Environment.aspx?id=282

Discrimination or Disparity in Policing

Discrimination refers to a difference in the kind of treatment given to individuals based on the race, ethnic background, social class, gender and so forth. Disparity on the other hand refers to a difference in outcomes of a situation which is not necessarily as a result of differential treatment or any kind of biased treatment. According to Wrobleski (2005), discrimination can be defined as a differential unequal treatment exhibited by a person when dealing with an individual from a certain race, sex, religion or ethnic origin.In policing, all citizens in a country are entitled to equal amount of protection under the state laws as a sign of democracy. Discrimination in policing occurs when police officers in a given state fail to practice fair treatment when dealing with their workmates and members of the public due to race, gender, ethnic origin, skin color or religion biases and it is a bit different from disparity. For instance, many traffic policemen are known to easily forgive women drivers who violate traffic rules but the same policemen become very strict when dealing with male drivers.On the other hand, women are known to be more careful drivers than their male counterparts and thus, not many women drivers violate traffic rules. The fact that there are many male traffic rules violators than women might lead to some difference in the number of traffic tickets given to women as opposed to those given to men. This kind of difference will be referred to as disparity and not discrimination. The police force has in the recent past being highly associated with cases of discrimination and favoritism.This paper seeks top identify the types of discrimination and disparity in policing mainly based on gender, race and class. Racial discrimination and disparity. The issue of racial and ethnic discrimination and disparity in policing has been widely researched and most studies indicate that there is a common pattern of systematic discrimination and disparity related to factors such as involvement in criminal activities, drug abuse and so forth. Systematic discrimination in policing can be defined as the type of differential treatment which is always present in a state's justice system regardless of the time or place.Most of racial discrimination in the justice systems exists in form of racial profiling (Wrobleski, 2005). Racial profiling refers to a situation whereby members of a certain race or ethnic origin are subjected to extensive surveillance, police force and criminal justice than others. For instance, law enforcement officers in the U. S have been accused of using the authority given to them in a discretionary way when dealing with minority motorists. The word minority here refers to the blacks, Hispanics or native Americans (Walker, Cassia & Miriam, 2000).This is a case of racial profiling and such cases have brought so much controversy in the American policing with many people claiming that the high rates of minority involvement in t raffic stops as opposed to the number of whites involved reflects how biased the traffic police officers are in terms of race. A study carried out by the U. S Rand Corporation in 2006 showed that the minority populations are more likely to be stopped by traffic officers, searched and accused of drug trafficking unlike their white counterparts.The study also discovered some pattern of racial disparities with many drug traffickers located in some parts of the state inhabited by the blacks and the Hispanics unlike those areas inhabited by the whites (Lanier & Stuart, 2008). However, the law enforcers are quick to defend themselves on this accusations claiming that they operate under pressure to track and bring to book those involved in drug use and trafficking activities. The term racial profiling has been replaced with racial biased policing to show how policing in U.S is biased towards the minority population. Apart from traffic police officers, the law enforcing unit in U. S has bee n generally accused of possessing a high tendency of using excessive force when dealing with the minority groups than when dealing with the whites. According to Fukurai (2002), racial discrimination and disparity in the U. S has also been identified in the federal justice systems. Racial disparities in the criminal justice systems has been attributed to the high number of minority populations involved in criminal activities.Racial discrimination is responsible for the disparity seen in police arrests, jury selection and prosecution procedures in the current criminal justice systems in the U. S. Gender discrimination and disparity. Discrimination in policing on the bases of gender is very common in U. S just like in most parts of the world. The major issue of gender discrimination and disparity in the U. S policing is associated with lack of gender integration whereby for a long time now, women have been highly ignored and denied the chance to work as police officers.However, a call for gender equality and affirmative action has increasingly advocated for women in the police force and through continued struggle and determination, more and more women are now working in the police force. The major challenge now is that, women police officers are discriminated against and have not been fully accepted by their male counterparts. Such women are subjected to cold reception, hostility and sexual harassment by their male workmates, supervisors and the police department as a whole (Wilbanks, 2007).Other challenges which affect women in policing include too many family responsibilities, conflict in societal roles, sexual harassment, doubts by the public concerning their ability to compete with their male counterparts, doubts about their self worth, inadequate facilities in the police force such as uniforms, locker rooms and so forth. This type of discrimination is worse when the woman in question belongs to the minority population. Researches have indicated that women fr om the minority populations are exposed to higher discrimination than the white women (Fukurai, 2002).However, it has been found that regardless of the race, all women in policing face a substantial amount of discrimination. Gender disparity in U. S is evident from the statistics depicted by a report by the State Security Department in 2007 which showed that women constitute only four percent of the police force as compared to their male counterparts (Miller, 2007). This can be attributed to discrimination in enrolling women to the police force and the conditions they are subjected to at the work place.Apart from discrimination of women police officers at the work place, another form of gender discrimination in policing is evident whereby, male police officers have been found to act with some level of leniency when dealing with women offenders unlike when dealing with male offenders. This is mostly common especially when the woman in question is young and attractive. Moreover, cases of police officers and law enforcers who ask for sexual favors from women so as to overlook their cases or rule in their favor are also quite common. Class discrimination and disparity.In the U. S, wealth distribution varies widely within the three major social classes. This includes upper class, middle class and low class societies. Most people in U. S fall under the middle class category. Discrimination in policing is brought about by the fact that law enforcers are more biased against low class populations as opposed to those in the middle and upper-class societies (Wrobleski, 2005). When it comes to justice and fairness, the poor people are often denied their rights by the rich and when they go to court, the accuser becomes the accused.This is because the rich have money to bribe in order to have justice passed in their favor. Disparity in terms of social class is common in policing due ti the fact that most poor people have a higher likelihood of engaging in crime and criminal activities when seeking means of survival. This is the main reason why crime is found to be more prevalent among low class societies as opposed to the upper and middle class societies. Conclusion. It is clear that discrimination or disparity is very common in U. S policing based on race, class and gender.Most of the reports and researches reviewed indicate that racial based discrimination is the most common type of discrimination in policing with most police officers practicing what is known as racial profiling. This affects the minority populations of all background regardless of their gender or class. Contemporary researches have also shown that the three types of discrimination interact closely with each other. For instance, most of the minority populations in U. S live in perpetual poverty due to lack of employment and unequal income distribution.This exposes them to higher discrimination due to their race as well as the social class. In addition, it has been found that most bl ack women who work in the police force are subjected to more gender discrimination than the white women. To some extent, discrimination in the police force leads to disparity especially in the case of gender discrimination among women in policing. It can thus be concluded that, discrimination has greatly affected the administration of justice in the criminal justice system and this calls for affirmative action to administer reforms in the system and ensure equal and fair justice for all. Reference. Fukurai, H. (2002). Where Did Hispanic Jurors Go? Racial and Ethnic Disenfranchisement in the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Grand Jury and the Search for Justice. Western Criminology Review 2(2). [Online].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved on Sept 20, 2008 from, . Miller, T. (2007). Gender Discrimination in U. S Policing. New York: Free Press. Lanier, M. and Stuart, H. (2008). Defining Crime. Essential Criminology.   Boulder, CO:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Westview Press. Walker, S., Cassia. S. & Miriam, D. (2000). The Color of Justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Publishing Company. Wilbanks, W. (2007). The Myth of the Racist Criminal Justice System. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. Wrobleski, M. & Karen, M. (2005). Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.

Identify the historical and cultural factors Essay

Identify the historical and cultural factors that contribute to the development of the learning perspective. To what extent is the learning perspective relevant today?  The study of how humans learn is a dominant component of the learning perspective. The study of behaviour in this perspective and is also commonly known as the Behaviouristic Approach, as they believe that behaviour is the only valid data in psychology. Behaviourism developed simultaneously in the United States and Russia in relation to many factors. Traditional Behaviourists believed that all organisms learn in the same way, and could be explained by the processes of classical and operant conditioning. Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behaviour and/or knowledge that occurs as a result of practice and/or experience in the environment. Psychologists working within this perspective have investigated he ways in which behaviour changes, usually using laboratory experiments, and often-using non-human animals. The Learning perspective developed simultaneously in the United States and Russia with American Theorists John Watson, Albert Bandura and Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov.  The way in which behaviour can be observed is seen as being objectively or unbiased, and this is the opposite to the theory of introspection. The unreliability of the way in which subjective data is obtained in introspection is one of the main criticisms that lead to the rise of behaviourism. In introspection the data collected in said to be subjective and therefore biased in the sense that it comes from ones own mind. â€Å"Give me a dozen healthy infants†¦and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer†¦and yes, even beggarman and thief.†1  John Watson 1913  Watson wrote an article titled ‘Psychology as the behaviourist views it.’ This article, which set out all main assumptions and principles, sparked the rise of the behaviourist movement in 1913. Albert Bandura was the major motivator behind the social learning theory, which included cognitive factors that were not incorporated by behaviourists, as they thought behaviour was almost entirely determined by the environment. Bandura suggests that much behaviour, including aggression, is learnt from the environment through reinforcement and the process of modelling. Bandura integrated cognitive influences and called his modified theory the social learning theory. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, whilst conducting experiments on the digestive systems on dogs stumbled across the developed principles of classical conditioning. All these factors contributed to the advancement of the learning perspective, as we know it today. Key concepts of the perspective are classical and operant conditioning, social, latent and insight learning. All concepts are built from the historical and cultural factors that gave rise to the learning perspective. Findings after conduction of experiments show a remarkable relevance to today’s society and knowledge. Whether it is classical conditioning and relating findings to aversion therapy or operant conditioning’s relation to animal training or modifying behaviour through reinforcement and punishment. Therefore it is important to research experimenters who performed relevant experiments to relate their results to today. Classical condition is learning through association, which was accidentally found by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was conducting experiments in relation to dogs digestive systems when he stumbled on, what is known as, classical conditioning. Pavlov noticed that dogs did not only salivate when food was placed in front of them, but they also salivated before the food was given to them, and was triggered by other factors such as upon hearing or seeing Pavlov, or the sound of footsteps. Pavlov then discovered that the anticipation of receiving the food made the dogs salivate. Pavlov then modified his experiment to test whether using a stimulus such as meat powder, which caused salivation, could be varied and a conditioned stimulus such as the ringing of a bell could also bring about the unconditioned response of salivation originally caused by being presented with the sight of the meat powder. Pavlov used a soundproof room, to minimise and limit extraneous variables so he could be sure that it was i.e. only the ringing of a bell that was affecting the salivation after the conditioned stimulus. John Watson performed another example of classical conditioning when he experimented on Little Albert in 1920. Behaviourists learning theorists such as Watson suggested that phobias were conditioned emotional responses. Certain stimuli, such as sudden loud noises, naturally cause fear reactions, and stimuli that become associated with them will acquire the same emotional responses. Little Albert was presented with a white laboratory rat to which he showed no fear response. Watson then associated the loud noise simultaneously with the presentation of the rat, Little Albert then associated fear with the rat, and was then able to generalise these response to other fluffy white objects. The study with Little Albert has serious ethical problems. Firstly that he participated in the experiment involuntary and without the consent of his mother. Also Watson reported that they hesitated about proceeding with the experiment but comforted themselves that Albert would encounter such traumatic associations when he left the sheltered environment of the nursery anyway. This is not a very good ethical defence, especially since they believed such associations might persist indefinitely and did not leave sufficient time to remove the fear afterwards, despite knowing that Albert was due to leave. Classical conditioning can be related to today with the development of therapies using classical conditioning techniques to extinguishing fear. The first technique of therapy is the systematic desensitation, which aims to extinguish the fear response of a phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually, step by step. This therapy was developed mainly by Wolpe, who stated that in order for the fear to be removed gradually, a hierarchy of fear must be formed and ranked by the subject from least fearful to most fearful. The subject is then given training in deep muscle relaxation techniques so it can then be used at each stage of the hierarchy starting from the least fearful to the most and only progressing when the subject feels sufficiently relaxed. This method of treatment has a very high success rate with specific phobias, i.e. of particular animals. It is considered to work particularly well because the response of fear and relaxation is said to be impossible for them to exist at the same time. The second techniques of therapy are implosion and the flooding techniques, when both methods produce extinction of a phobia’s fear by the continual and dramatic presentation of the phobic or situation. Wolpe in 1960 forced a girl with a fear of cars into the back seat of a car and drove her around for 4 hours straight until her hysterical fear completely disappeared. Marks et al (1981) say that this kind of therapy works because eventually some stimulus exhaustion takes place, as you cannot scream forever and then the conditioned fear response extinguishes. The technique most similar to classical conditioning is called Aversion Therapy, and is most relevant to today’s treatment of alcoholism, smoking or overeating. The technique aims to remove undesirable responses to certain stimuli by associating them with aversive stimuli, in the hope that the undesirable responses will be avoided in the future. Aversion therapy has been used to treat alcoholism, for example the person is given alcohol with a nausea-inducing drug unsuspectingly, and should then feel sick. The person associates drinking with their intestinal distress and results found that two out of three people did not have any alcohol a year later. Although it has a high success rate, ethical considerations of deliberating causing discomfort to another person through deception must be taken into account. The limitation of this type of therapy is its difficulty to generalise to other situations from where the learning took place.

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